The House Ethics Committee does exist.  We learn, via The Hill, that a warning has been sent forth from that committee to House members about the upcoming inauguration.  Okay.  We'd like to see the House Ethics Committee deal with the ethics complaints we've filed. If they're meeting to talk about inauguration parties, surely they could find time to discuss the ethical transgression of some House members:

Rep. Gene Green (D-Texas), the acting chairman of the panel and Rep. Doc Hastings (Wash.), the ranking Republican, issued a memo Thursday afternoon after receiving inquiries about whether lobbyists or other private groups could pay for inauguration and swearing-in receptions in members’ honor.

“Such arrangements are not permissible as the payment of the costs of the event would constitute an impermissible gift to the member under the House gift rule,” warned the senior members of the panel.

Ethics rules, however, do allow members to use campaign funds to host swearing-in receptions for supporters in their House offices or another House room as long as the events are not campaign-related. For instance, the invite-list for such events cannot be limited to campaign contributors, according to the memo. Campaign funds also can be used to pay for inaugural receptions in House offices “or elsewhere,” an apparent allowance for off-campus events.

The Abramoff scandal isn't over.  Today's guilty plea was from a former Capitol Hill staffer who worked for two Missouri Republicans, Senator Kit Bond and Rep. Roy Blunt:

Another Capitol Hill figure has pleaded guilty in connection with the Jack Abramoff public corruption scandal, the 15th person who has peaded (sic) guilty or is awaiting trial in the case.

Trevor L. Blackann, 34, formerly of the District, entered his plea today to making a false statement on his 2003 tax returns by failing to report as income about $4,100 in illegal gifts that he received from lobbyists.

Blackann was a legislative assistant in the House and Senate for Missouri Sen. Christopher S. "Kit" Bond and Rep. Roy Blunt, both Republicans. He left Bond's office to work for Abramoff.

CREW named Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK) one of the most corrupt members of Congress in September. 

Today, the long career of Senator Stevens ended today as he said good-bye to that body.  Stevens lost his Senate race earlier in the week.  Last month, he was convicted of federal corruption charges:

"I really must pinch myself to fully understand that I'm privileged to speak on the floor of the United States Senate," Stevens said, sitting comfortably and with an ease he didn't have during the five weeks he faced a federal jury on corruption charges this fall.

Stevens, who was convicted on seven counts of failing to disclose gifts from a powerful political contributor, lost his election Tuesday and will return to Alaska. He made just one mention of his conviction during his farewell remarks, saying he hoped to one day be cleared of the cloud over his head.

Yet Stevens never sounded a bitter note. He thanked his family, his friends both inside and outside of the Senate, and the people of Alaska.

If home is where the heart is, Stevens said, "I have two homes. One is right here in this chamber and the other is my beloved state of Alaska. I must leave one to return to the other."

Public corruption isn't limited to Washington, DC.  Today's Boston Globe reports on the indictment of a long-time State Senator on federal corruption charges:

A federal grand jury indicted state Senator Dianne Wilkerson yesterday on eight counts of attempted extortion stemming from an undercover FBI corruption investigation, and prosecutors signaled that more charges are likely in a case that has rocked the State House and spurred demands for her resignation.

"This remains an active investigation," said US Attorney Michael J. Sullivan. "We intend to aggressively pursue all leads in this case, more fully digest the evidence we have gathered to date, and bring additional charges as called for by the evidence."

Wilkerson, a Roxbury Democrat who has served in the Senate for 15 years, is accused of accepting $23,500 in bribes to help secure a liquor license for a nightclub in her district and to push legislation paving the way for a Roxbury development.

If convicted, she could face up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine on each of the eight charges. The indictment also seeks forfeiture of $23,500 in payments that a cooperating witness and undercover agents allegedly made to Wilkerson.

Last night, we learned that Alaska's long-serving Senator, Ted Stevens, who is also a convicted felon, was defeated in his re-election bid:

Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens lost his job to Mark Begich on Tuesday, putting an end to the era of "Uncle Ted" as the dominant force in Alaska politics.

Begich, the Democratic mayor of Anchorage, widened his lead to 3,724 votes in Tuesday's count of absentee and questioned ballots. The lead is insurmountable, as the only votes left to count are approximately 2,500 ballots from overseas.

Begich claimed victory, saying, "I am humbled and honored to serve Alaska in the U.S. Senate."

The loss came on Stevens' 85th birthday. The 40-year incumbent is the longest serving Republican in the history of the U.S. Senate.

Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) is resisting a subpoena in a civil case claiming the Speech or Debate Clause of the Constitution bars him from testifying:

[Chambliss campaign spokeswoman Michelle Hitt] Grasso said Senate attorneys have told Chambliss he is immune from submitting to a deposition under the “speech or debate” clause of the Constitution, which shields members of Congress from testifying about legislative business in private lawsuits.

Lawyers would like to ask Sen. Chambliss about his communications with the Imperial Sugar Corporation and why he tried to dissuade plaintiffs from suing the company following a deadly explosion and fire at a Georgia refinery earlier this year.

While the Speech or Debate Clause provides Sen. Chambliss with immunity from questions about legislative activity such as the July hearing at which Imperial Sugar’s vice president for operations testified as well as any preparation for that hearing, the Clause does not protect the senator from having to answer questions about meetings with victims’ families.

CREW executive director Melanie Sloan stated it very clearly:

The Speech or Debate Clause does not give Sen. Chambliss blanket immunity from testifying in a civil case simply because he is a member of Congress. As an attorney, Sen. Chambliss should know this. Clearly, he needs to brush up on his constitutional law.

In no case has the Supreme Court ever held that all conduct merely relating the legislative process is protected by the Speech or Debate Clause.

In fact, the Supreme Court has held that members of Congress engage in many activities other than those that are purely legislative. Examples include constituent services, communications with other government agencies, assistance in securing government contracts and speeches delivered outside of Congress.

An update on the status of Senator Ted Stevens future within the GOP caucus from Roll Call (sub. req.)

“After talking with many of my colleagues, it’s clear there are sufficient votes to pass the resolution regarding Senator Stevens. The question now is timing,” DeMint said. “Some who support the resolution believe we should address this after the results of his election are confirmed in Alaska. For this reason, I will ask the Conference to postpone the vote on Senator Stevens until Thursday.”

Senator Ted Stevens is now behind by over 1,000 votes in his quest for re-election.  The remaining votes will be counted by Wednesday and it appears that Stevens will lose.  That has not stopped South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint from pushing to have Stevens expelled from the Republican caucus:

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) has been very public about his proposal to ask Senate Republicans, at a 9:30 meeting Tuesday morning, to formally vote on expelling Stevens from the Republican Conference, which would strip Stevens of all his committee seats, take away his seniority and essentially leave him without a party. Stevens would still be a senator, of course, but this conference expulsion would send a strong signal that expulsion from the Senate itself is a likely next step.

But the Alaska recount has thrown DeMint's plans into jeopardy, because Republicans might not want to be on record expelling someone who just might lose the election anyway.

"Sen. DeMint can raise it, but members might not be in any mood, especially since the election won’t be settled by then [Tuesday]," said one Senate Republican leadership aide. "I just don’t know what will happen." 

A DeMint aide insists that nothing has changed.

"The vote is schedule to go forward tomorrow," the aide said.

Rep. Charles Rangel requested an ethics investigation of himself.   Now, he's hired outside help, in the form of an accounting firm, to figure out the financial situation that precipitated some of his problems:

New York Rep. Charles Rangel has hired an accountant to pore over his personal finances as he faces an ethics committee investigation.

Rangel, a powerful Democrat who heads the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee, has been under fire for months over issues surrounding his personal finances.

He failed to report $75,000 in rental income for a beach house in the Dominican Republic over the past two decades, used three rent-stabilized apartments in his home district of Harlem and used his congressional stationery to solicit private donations to a college center named after him.

Rangel also says he didn't know he received a no-interest mortgage from the resort's developers for at least a decade.

The congressman's office said Thursday the firm Watkins, Meegan, Drury & Co. will review his finances and issue a report to the House ethics committee. When the review of the congressman's finances is complete, the report will be released publicly along with 20 years of Rangel's tax returns, his lawyer has said.

Last month, U.S. Senator Norm Coleman (R-MN) filed a defamation lawsuit against his opponent, Al Franken.   CREW's report, The 20 Most Corrupt Members of Congress (and 4 to watch), was a factor in that lawsuit.  Coleman was one of the "4 to watch" -- and one of the four Senators featured in the report.  Yesterday, a judge dismissed the lawsuit and our report was also a factor in that decision:

A Minnesota judge threw out a lawsuit Thursday against Al Franken by Republican Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.), who claimed his Democratic opponent had defamed him in ads.

Judge Barbara L. Neilson ruled claims by a watchdog group against Coleman referenced in the Franken ads are “substantially accurate, if not literally true.”

Coleman and Franken remain locked in a tight contest for the incumbent’s Senate seat that is headed for a recount. Final results might not be known until December.

Coleman’s suit centered on a claim in a Franken ad that Coleman is the “fourth most corrupt” Senator, attributed to the nonpartisan watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW). Neilson ruled it did not meet the law's standards for defamation.

“Because the statement made in the Franken advertisements accurately captures the 'gist' or 'sting' of Senator Coleman’s placement in the CREW listing...there is not probable cause to believe that a violation of the statute has occurred," Neilson wrote. She also rejected claims by the Coleman campaign that CREW was not “bipartisan,” contrary to the organization’s claims.